Improving monitoring of the allocations under the gender responsive budget, a tool used for addressing gender inequality, is needed to ensure proper utilisation of budgetary funds meant for women, discussants said at a pre-budget dialogue on Monday.
They also suggested the restoration of women quota in public sector jobs, the recognition of unpaid caregivers, a six-month maternity leave in the private sector and the use of information and telecommunications technology for the empowerment of women and checking inequality against them.
The Citizen鈥檚 Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh and the UN Women Bangladesh jointly organised the dialogue titled 鈥楢dvancing Gender-Responsive Budgeting FfD4 Outcome鈥� in the capital Dhaka.
The discussants also urged the government to make data available for proper planning and implementation of gender sensitive issues through higher allocations by raising revenue mobilisation.
Citizen鈥檚 Platform for SDGs convenor Debapriya Bhattacharya chaired the dialogue in which at least 40 experts and activists expressed their views at over a three-hour interactive session ahead of the announcement of the national budget by interim government finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on June 2. UN Women Bangladesh country representative Gitanjali Singh and Swedish embassy deputy鈥痟ead鈥痮f鈥痬ission Maria Stridsman, among others, also participated in the dialogue.
鈥楾he anti-discrimination spirit brought the interim government to power,鈥� said Debapriya, also a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a local think tank.
He added that anti-discriminatory practices in the country resonated mostly through the gender inequality and violence against women.
CPD senior research fellow Towfiqul Islam Khan in his presentation titled 鈥楽tate of the economy through a gender lens鈥� said that the shrinking fiscal space for the less than expected revenue mobilisation prevented the government from higher expenditure on development projects that slowed down economic growth and job generation.
Women face more vulnerability under the current situation, also featured by uncertainties on the political front and investment by private sector, he said while describing the data anomalies on women employment.
In 2022, about 41 per cent of women were shown as employed against the actual figure of 19 per cent, he said, observing that 18 lakh out of 21 lakh job losses in the first half (July-December) of the outgoing financial year of 2024-20 were of women.
Besides the anomalies in public data, scopes are limited to monitor the allocations under the gender budget, said UN Women programme analyst Nubayra Jeheen in her presentation titled 鈥楪ender Responsive Budgeting in Bangladesh: Current Issues鈥�.
Nubayra showed that key allocations under the gender budget in the health and education sectors were underutilised.
Bangladesh Mahila Parishad鈥檚 legal aid secretary Rekha Saha in her presentation titled 鈥楥harter of demand and financing for gender equality and women鈥檚 empowerment鈥� demanded the restoration of 10 per cent quota for women in government jobs, the recognition of unpaid caregivers, ending violence against women and equal share for higher studies.
The 10 per cent quota for women in government jobs was dropped by an Appellate Division verdict delivered on July 2024 on job quotas in public services.
Two government officials 鈥� women and children affairs ministry deputy secretary Tasnim Zeben Bentea Sheikh and Economic Relations Division joint secretary Abul Kalam Azad 鈥� also spoke at the dialogue.
Saying that the gender budget accounting for 34 per cent of the overall budget in the outgoing financial year of 2024-25, Tasnim said that many government officials had no idea about the gender budget.
Abul Kalam said that the government should prepare a report on the gender budget to streamline it.
